Politics & Government

Chasco Sponsorship to be Decided in Vote

Cost cutting results in council agreement to vote on partially funding long-running fiesta.

New Port Richey City Council members have agreed to vote on whether the city will partially sponsor the 2012 Chasco Fiesta at an upcoming meeting.

At a work session that lasted more than three and a half hours Tuesday, council members said they will consider a sponsorship of city support services for Chasco to the tune of $40,000. City Manager John Schneiger's recommendation in a memo released Thursday is that the sponsorship be capped at $40,000.

Council members also said they would take a vote an agreement that spells out the responsibilities of the Chasco Fiesta planners and the city when paying for the event, setting it up, overseeing it and cleaning up after it. The city is proposing that agreements of this type, called a "Memorandum of Understanding," be entered into with all special event organizers. 

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The formal sponsorship proposal and agreement will be presented at the regular council session Oct. 18.

Schneiger said Tuesday that New Port Richey spent nearly $88,000 to provide services in support of the 2011 fiesta, which is organized by the West Pasco Chamber of Commerce. Going into the meeting, city staff was saying a sponsorship could cost New Port Richey $42,318 due to proposed cost-cutting ideas.  

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Council members cannot vote at a work session, but they can share opinions or give direction.

Occasionaly tense discussions over the past months resulted in Chasco's head planner saying she had selected a backup site outside New Port Richey for the fiesta, in case it couldn't afford to stay.

Kristen King, executive director of the chamber's Chasco Fiesta Steering Committee, came out of Tuesday's meeting more optimistic about a possible agreement with the city.

"I'm sure we'll be able to work this out," she said.

When asked if the fiesta, which lasted 11 days this year, was going to remain in the city, King replied, "I would say we’re staying."

Nonetheless, fiesta planners and city council members expressed concern during the work session about whether calculations of event costs and benefits were accurate.

Chamber president Joe Alpine told council members that planners and the city need to form a “partnership.” The chamber has tried to cooperate with the city, he said. It has lowered costs, he said.

“We just have to find a way to make this happen,” he said.

Cutting Costs Critical to an Agreement

Michael Cox, a member of the chamber's steering committee and former mayor of Port Richey, advocated that New Port Richey subsidize the fiesta's costs.

Special event costs to New Port Richey were bundled into the city's fiscal year 2012 budget as a lump total, Cox said.

He said there are costs to the chamber that haven't been estimated. Give the chamber a reprieve for for 2012 so that the event's "actual costs" are tracked, he said.

New Port Richey has not calculated special event costs when crafting budgets in the past. Staff is suggesting the city create line item budgets for each event it supports or sponsors. It's also suggesting flat rates for personnel services.

It was proposed this summer that New Port Richey look at for the services (police, fire, parks and recreation and public works) it provides to support events. The city since negotiated to provide partial subsidies to certain events . 

The chamber has said it will lower costs of Chasco by taking on cleanup responsibilities, installing crowd barricades and seeking agreements for assistance from law enforcement agencies outside the city. New Port Richey is proposing that the chamber have authorization to hire private security to augment city police.

Chasco uses volunteers and prison inmates for cleanup. Greg Armstrong, co-chair of the Chasco street parade, said the number of volunteers and prison inmates, will be increased for the parade. 

Supporters Want the Fiesta to Stay

About 30 nonprofits raise money through participation at the fiesta.

Roughly 45 people came to Tuesday's meeting. Almost all who spoke to the council represented nonprofits participating in the fiesta. All who spoke said they wanted the celebration to be kept in the city.

Mayor Bob Consalvo said the fiesta is a “legacy” and that it provides marketing the city does not do itself. He said he thought that this year, New Port Richey should sponsor Chasco “with money we have built into the budget.”

Councilwoman Judy DeBella Thomas, a former executive director of Greater New Port Richey Main Street, pointed out that the city last month decided to partially subsidize costs of four separate year-end events.

She said it would be “judicious” for the city to do the same for Chasco and other events from January through to the end of the budget year.

Not Everyone Sees the Benefits

Deputy Mayor Rob Marlowe, a frequent critic of event costs, pointed out doubts about Chasco's economic benefit within the city limits.

“I do think that we are being asked to kick in $40,000 for an event that doesn’t benefit New Port Richey as much as it does West Pasco,” he said.

Marlowe said he wanted to continue conversations about cutting costs to the city to continue. He also said that the city should get credit for subsidizing event suport. In the past, the city didn't get the recognition it deserved for the costs it subsidized, Marlowe said.

Councilwoman Ginny Miller said that she understands that it is getting harder financially for Chasco to put on its event. The city is facing its own economic hardship.

The commitment it pays to Chasco is "getting a little excessive," she said.

She said that the city does a god job with its own street sweep and cleanup after the street parade, making it look like it never happened afterward. She said she "insist" ed that the city's post-parade sweep and operations be maintained in the memorandum of understanding with Chasco.

Benefit Estimates Little Cause for Celebration

The deputy mayor expressed concerns about the accuracy of an economic impact fee study contracted by the Chamber.

The 2012 Fiesta is projected to generate just over $1,000 in sales taxes for the city, according to the study.

The fiesta generates a $2.85-million "shot in the arm for the Pasco County area," according to the report.

The study says the Chasco Fiesta will attract 140,000 people in 2012, 33 percent of who visit Pasco County from elsewhere.

"It is estimated that these visitors will each spend $50 at local retailers and restaurants in New Port Richey,” according to the report.

Marlowe was skeptical that spending per person in the city limits  reached that level.

"That number is beyond bogus," he said.

He said that the statistic didn't reflect reality in downtown New Port Richey. 

Insecure About Security Costs

A proposal for the chamber and other event planners to pay the city directly for police officers who "volunteer" their time for event security was criticized by the chamber president.

The city currently asks for police officers to volunteer to work “off duty” for $25 an hour at certain events, specifically the Chasco carnival. This is paid to them directly by the event planner and doesn't include costs for liability, equipment, vehicles and other expenditures.

The city also has an "extra duty" agreement with Morton Plant North Bay Hospital that tacks on a $3 administrative fee per hour to the $25/hour rate.

"Neither one of those comes close to our costs," Schneiger said.

A new rate should be created to more accurately encompass the city's costs at a flat rate, city staff is suggesting. The officers would be labeled as "volunteers", so the costs would not have to be paid into an officer's pension.

Alpine feared it could mean a higher price label for Chasco planners.

"There's an example of a cost going up that's not in these figures" from the city, he said.

Last revised at 4:06 p.m. Oct. 13


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